FB Financial Co. (NYSE:FBK) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

FB Financial Co. (NYSE:FBK) was the target of a large increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 623,100 shares, an increase of 18.4% from the March 15th total of 526,200 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 182,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.4 days. Currently, 1.8% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Insider Activity at FB Financial

In other news, major shareholder James W. Ayers purchased 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $52.56 per share, with a total value of $105,120.00. Following the acquisition, the insider now owns 10,919,841 shares in the company, valued at approximately $573,946,842.96. This trade represents a 0.02 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director James W. Iv Cross acquired 7,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 16th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $40.49 per share, for a total transaction of $291,528.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 61,278 shares in the company, valued at $2,481,146.22. This represents a 13.31 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have purchased 15,200 shares of company stock worth $701,468. 1.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of FBK. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of FB Financial by 45.2% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,008 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 314 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its position in FB Financial by 810.6% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,120 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $58,000 after acquiring an additional 997 shares during the period. KBC Group NV grew its stake in shares of FB Financial by 36.2% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,090 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $108,000 after purchasing an additional 555 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of FB Financial during the fourth quarter valued at $206,000. Finally, Covenant Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of FB Financial during the fourth quarter valued at about $211,000. Institutional investors own 65.40% of the company’s stock.

FB Financial Stock Up 3.1 %

Shares of NYSE FBK opened at $41.21 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $45.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $50.15. FB Financial has a 52-week low of $34.50 and a 52-week high of $58.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.68 and a beta of 0.92.

FB Financial (NYSE:FBK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 14th. The financial services provider reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.85. FB Financial had a return on equity of 10.43% and a net margin of 15.18%. The firm had revenue of $130.67 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $132.28 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.85 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that FB Financial will post 3.64 earnings per share for the current year.

FB Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th were paid a dividend of $0.19 per share. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.84%. This is a positive change from FB Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 11th. FB Financial’s payout ratio is presently 27.94%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FBK has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com raised FB Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of FB Financial from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Hovde Group raised shares of FB Financial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $60.00 to $59.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of FB Financial from $58.00 to $52.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Stephens cut their price objective on FB Financial from $65.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.80.

FB Financial Company Profile

FB Financial Corporation operates as a bank holding company for FirstBank that provides a suite of commercial and consumer banking services to businesses, professionals, and individuals. The company operates in segments, such as Banking and Mortgage. It offers checking, demand, money market, and savings accounts; deposit and lending products and services to corporate, commercial, and consumer customers; and time deposits and certificates of deposits, as well as residential mortgage loans.